1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for an electric vehicle having an electric motor for driving vehicle wheels.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electric vehicle that generates a creep torque from an electric motor even when an accelerator pedal is not depressed has been proposed. The electric vehicle can perform creep travel similar to that of a vehicle including a torque converter, thereby facilitating driving operations in which start and stop operations are performed repeatedly. An electric vehicle in which the creep torque is increased and decreased in accordance with an operating condition of a brake pedal has also been proposed, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) No. 1997-37415, for example. In the electric vehicle described in JP-A No. 1997-37415, the creep torque is reduced when the brake is operated and increased when the brake is not operated. As a result, the creep torque can be generated even during a brake operation, thereby facilitating a driving operation in which the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal are depressed alternately during a hill start. Moreover, since the creep torque is reduced during a brake operation, vehicle braking is not affected by creep torque generation.
Incidentally, since the creep torque is increased and decreased in accordance with the brake operation, the electric vehicle is provided with a brake sensor for detecting a brake operation amount. However, when an abnormality occurs in the brake sensor, the brake operation amount cannot be grasped accurately, and therefore the creep torque cannot be controlled appropriately. When an appropriate creep torque cannot be obtained, a driver of the vehicle may experience an uncomfortable feeling, and in addition, creep travel may be impaired.